Doby Doc: Part Four of FourNortheastern Nevada and Las Vegas (1890-1979)

"Married?
Hell no. I couldn't ask a girl to take a chance on me in the kind of business
I was in!" - Doby Doc.

It's hard to swallow some of Doby's stories about his adventures and
treasures. That's because they are pure baloney spiked with a little truth,
some wishful thinking, and a lot of imagination, all seasoned with a little
entertainment. He loved being the center of attention, no matter
what it took. A tall tale loosely based on a small amount of fact usually
served his purpose.

When he closed the Last Frontier Village, the memorabilia was hauled
out to his complex where he stored his collectible treasures. The property
was screened from view by rows of elm trees. Extensive fencing surrounded
the property with several hired watchmen to protect his inventory.

Doby's usual garb on his property was Oshkosh B'Gosh overalls. Following
him around was his longtime Dachshund pal, Petey.

When Doc needed to dress up, he went totus porkus. For an interview
at the Fremont Hotel, a reporter wrote that he was a "courtly, soft-spoken
man in striped trousers and gray-striped black swallow-tail coat, light
gray ten-gallon hat, string tie and large diamond stickpin." He was 82
when interviewed in 1972.

This same courtly, soft-spoken person also had a short fuse. Doby was
having lunch at the Ranchinn in Elko when a fellow walked over to his table
and muttered a few gruff words. Doby stood, pulled a pistol from his overalls
and, through clenched teeth, advised the shaking man not ever to mess (author's
words, not Doc's) with him. He turned white and slowly backed off and left
the Ranchinn in a hurry.

A witness to the incident, said that Doby would have shot him for sure,
adding that "his knuckles were white and ready to squeeze the trigger."

A Las Vegas Sun reporter interviewed him at his warehouse complex near
McCarran International Airport. The reporter wrote: "The kitchen is small,
neat, and functional with a plain wooden table and two chairs. The master
bedroom contains a magnificent hand-carved bed and chests which were once
owned by Eilley and Sandy Bowers." The Bowers were Virginia City nabobs
who lived in Washoe Valley between Reno and Carson City.

Continuing, the reporter noted, "Doby never sleeps in the ornate bed even though he says, 'It's a
pretty good one.'" He slept in another room on his single bed. Wonder how Doc acquired the Bowers'
bed? Was it another one of his verbal deals?

This painting of Robert "Doby Doc" Caudillby Julian Bitter hung in Benny Binion's officein Binion's Horseshoe Casino on FremontStreet in downtown Las Vegas. His ever present,longtime Dachshund pal, Petey, is at his feet.

He died in his home on August 19, 1979. Doc was 89. They buried him
in Las Vegas four days later. Many of his Elko friends were there. While
alive, he had worn many hats - miner, ranch hand, bookkeeper, mining camp
cook, roustabout, saloon owner, dance hall proprietor, bootlegger, curator
of the Frontier Western Village, Las Vegas gambler and Nevada's greatest
ever collector of historical memorabilia and junk.

Elko Postmaster Antoine Primeaux said, "Here was a guy who was a musician,
understood law, was good at management, and had engineering experience.
Where did it all come from? How was he able to accumulate that kind of
knowledge?"
Biggest mystery of all is what happened to his collections when he
died. Some of it might have ended up at a tourist attraction called Old
Las Vegas on Boulder Highway. Daniel Markoff wrote that he found Doby Doc's
Eureka and Palisade locomotive burned at the site in 1986. The engine had
also been displayed at the Old Frontier Village. We know he sold more than
three million dollars of his inventory to Roy Rogers and a group in Florida.

Still, there had to be a large amount of his junk and memorabilia left
- where is it now? Surely, he must have had some of his wealth left when
he died. We might never know, but isn't it just like Doby to leave a lot
of questions unanswered?

"The El Rancho Vegas and Hotel Last Frontier: Strip Pioneers,"
by David G. Schwartz, Ph.D.., University of Nevada at Las Vegas, July 8,
2000, Gambling Research - The Electronic Journal of Gambling Issues.

"A Retrospective - Benny Binion Speaks," Internet site,
World
Series of Poker, University of Nevada at Las Vegas.